The Severn Suite

The Severn Suite, Opus 87, is a musical work written by Sir Edward Elgar. It is a late composition, written in 1930, the result of an invitation to write a test piece for the National Brass Band Championship. It was dedicated to his friend, the author and critic George Bernard Shaw.

There are five movements, which follow each other without breaks:

  1. Introduction (Worcester Castle) - Pomposo
  2. Toccata (Tournament) - Allegro molto
  3. Fugue (The Cathedral) - Andante
  4. Minuet (Commandery) - Moderato
  5. Coda - Lento - Pomposo

The Severn of the title is the name of the river which runs through the centre of the city of Worcester where Elgar spent his childhood and lived later. The subtitles refer to historic places in the city. These subtitles were not devised by Elgar himself but were later added to the Military Band arrangement published in 1931.

Of the five movements, the Fugue is a reworking of a recent but unpublished piano piece, Fugue in C minor (1923). The Minuet is based on wind chamber works written in the 1870s. Many reference books assert that The Severn Suite was entirely based on "old sketches" but the remaining three movements are, so far as is known, original compositions.

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